British Soap Operas Essay

In Tania Modleski’s “The Search for Tomorrow in Today’s Soap Operas” she introduces that the rare appearance and function of soap opera in two ways. The first being the viewer’s ability to occupy the text’s recommendation of the viewers position of ‘the good mother’, and the second using the stereotype ‘villainess’ to displace one’s own bottled up anger and powerlessness. I will analyze these two functions by using Modleski’s perspectives on the positions of soap operas, how a new genre of reality television programs that are featured today function in a similar way.

The upper-upper class are those who come from old money, which is inherited from previous generations.This class compose less than 1% of the population, but possess a great deal of power, and influence society. The upper-lowers are those who come from “new money.” Most of these people a famous stars and are sometimes referred to as the “working rich” because they work for the money they earn. Although the upper-lowers may possess more money than the upper-uppers, they often find it difficult to be apart of the upper society.

In today’s society, alcohol has become one of the main necessities for people to create relaxation, confidence, and the ability to be social. In the short story “A Bartender Tells What Man Did to Booze, and Booze to Man”, an anonymous bartender gives an up close and personal account of his observations about the effects alcohol has on men. He emphasizes the change in their character after a few drinks. Koren Zailckas from Smashed shares a memoir of her life describing her relationship with alcohol abuse and the problems that it caused for her. Although certain types of alcohol are used to support good health, it is the excessive consumption and misuse that leaves people dependent resulting in significant social, physical, and mental

Have you ever wondered what life is like for people in specific social classes and all the baggage that comes with being wealthy? In the article “Amber Waves of Green”, author Jon Ronson has sit downs with hard working americans making a income of $200 a week all the way up to $625,000 a week. In another writing titled “The Mansion”, written by Michael Lewis, allows the reader to get insight on what life is like as a middle class individual taking on a higher style of living. Within the two articles the reader can point out that both Jon Ronson and Michael Lewis disagree on living styles, what wealth can do for you, and how it can affect the people around you.

In an unknown newspaper, John Warner Barber published a cartoon depicting “The drunkard’s progress, or the direct road to poverty, wretchedness & ruin”, in which he illustrates the timeline of a drunkard’s short life (Doc. 2). Barber illustrates an alcoholic’s ultimate downfall, from the point in which his addiction to alcohol begins, to getting injured and condemning traditional institutions such as religion, to abusing the family and children at home, and to death. Moreover, Barber conveys the realities that every person of the nineteenth century has faced – a family member who has become lost himself in the relief that alcohol gives. When this document was published, millions of men and boys had succumbed to this dangerous indulgence. Since the eighteenth century, when alcohol was initially mass-produced, more and more people have drowned their sorrows – from work or from family problems - and committed countless crimes that resulted in drinking this beverage, including abusing their families and losing much of their money to gambling.

The gap between the upper class and the lower class is growing; the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. Instead of helping the lower class, the upper class is spending their money on fancy houses and material objects. For example, in the outskirts of cities, the rich business owners are building large mansions to live in. On the other hand, the lower class live in tiny tenements in the heart of the city. Many are unemployed and starving. In addition, between 1865 and 1900 only a small percent of Americans grew wealthy showing that wealth is only being passed through families not gained. However this growing gap between rich and poor has allowed the growth of the middle class. This middle class made up of doctors, lawyers and other will help the will hopefully help lessen the gap between

People in the lower class are often portrayed as pitiful, unworthy, lazy people who aren’t good for anything. That is according to what the media shows us daily. Blue collar work is viewed as “real” work (Linkon). The lower, working class takes pride in what they do because they accomplish something that takes effort and skill. The working class requires effort and strength. There are good lower class citizens who work for the benefit of their communities. The working class is unfortunately being brought down by the more “fortunate” higher-middle class and rich people. Basically, there is a bias in the representations of society (Ginsburgh). In a Levi’s - Go Work commercial, the lower class are positively portrayed as hard

There are many varying opinions towards the lower class, some believe they are lazy and others think they are earnest hardworking folk. In her book “Nickel and Dimed”, Barbara Ehrenreich takes a closer look at the lives and hardships of the lower class. Her goal is to bring awareness to the struggles of these people and while attempting to disprove negative misconceptions about these people. The author writes to an audience of privileged upper class people trying to prove just how difficult it is living in the lower class. Although Ehrenreich does achieve these goals, her arguments are weakened because she focuses more on her experiences rather than those around her. Despite living in similar conditions to these people, she isn’t getting the

Today, I want to talk you about alcohol, a common subject we all know and which has appeared all throughout the world and time. Now, before I get into the significance of alcohol in Angela’s Ashes I want to discuss a little about its background. It has never been clear the primary use of alcohol but it ranges from medical to antiseptic purposes to then later on believed to enhance enjoyment, which led for it to be a part of many social occasions as it has been found in numerous religious celebrations or places of worship from ancient times to the modern world, in fact, now in today’s world it is in any type of celebration, as it has become an important staple in this world. To some drinking is limited to just a few glasses, but for others they operate on a continuous cycle of drinks, otherwise called as binge drinking, never wanting to stop, as it proves to be an escape or defense mechanism.

British society is split into hierarchical categories with “higher” “middle” and “lower working” class. The British class structure is shaped like a pyramid cut into three

There is so much TV on nowadays that you’d think I would find it easy to choose a programme to write about BUT I really struggled. There are some that I hate like reality TV, The Only Way is Essex and Made in Chelsea to name but two, with their ‘fake’ characters, ‘plastic’ Barbie Doll and Action Man personalities, looks and features. Then there is the ridiculous storylines, so unbelievable, anyone out there in the ‘real world’ agree with my thoughts? In fact if I’m being honest I have never managed to watch an episode of either all the way through!

There is no doubt in the fact that society today loves watching people in drunken states. This can be seen on almost any social media platform and also on television as well. Though intoxication has been seen as comedic

When thinking of British television programs, it is impossible for one not to think of the international hit, Doctor Who. Originally debuting in 1963 under the British Broadcasting Corporation, Doctor Who included an upperclass white male playing the lead character along side another white male and two white females. Doctor Who aired during the 1960’s when Great Britain was still recovering from the destruction of World War II and was also facing the reality that they were not the world power they once were. Also, large influx of immigrations were entering Great Britain during this period. Class, gender, and racial prejudices were extremely prevalent within society and Doctor Who was no exception. Yet eventually attitudes change and the producers of the show understood that to remain relevant within popular culture, they would also need to change. Even though, Doctor Who has made strives over the past five decades to create a more inclusive television program, they still lack in accurate representation of society.

Throughout history, society has engaged in taking substances such as alcohol, that alter our physical being or our psychological state of mind. There are many experiences and pressures that force people to feel like they have to drink in order to cope with life, but for many alcohol is a part of everyday life, just like any other beverage. Alcohol is introduced to us in many ways, through our family, television, movies, and friends’. These “sociocultural variants are at least as important as physiological and psychological variants when we are trying to understand the interrelations of alcohol and human behavior”#. How we perceive drinking and continue drinking can be determined by the drinking habits we see, either by who we drink with,

The lower class, also known as the “working class”, were those individuals whom partook on the strenuous and dangerous jobs. These individuals were expected to work each and every day for multiple hours as a time and without a break. Although they worked extremely hard, the lower class was not paid well for their effort. Instead, they received the very minimum wage that one could, and were expected to live off of this (Allingham, 2002). Because the people of this class did not have as much money, their material items such as; housing, clothing, and food were very minimum. Even with the small amount of income that they received, the “lower section of the society was also burdened with numerous taxes that made their life miserable.” (Bishal, 2008) Lastly, the working classes remained shut out from the political process, making these individuals in reality separated from the rest of society (Allingham, 2002).